Paging of a user equipment (ue) within a wireless communications system

ABSTRACT

A user equipment (UE) determines to activate a data session. The UE configures a data session activation request message to include an indication of an association with communication sessions of a given type (e.g., delay-sensitive communication sessions), and then transmits the data session activation request message to an access network. The access network determines to establish an aggressive paging cycle of a downlink channel for the UE based in part upon receiving a message (e.g., which can be different than the data session activation request message) that conveys the indication of the association to the access network. The access network sends at least one instruction for facilitating an allocation of the aggressive paging cycle to the UE, and the UE receives the at least one instructions and monitors the downlink channel accordingly.

The present Application for Patent is a divisional of Non-Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 12/782,585, entitled “PAGING A USER EQUIPMENT (UE)WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”, filed May 18, 2010, which inturn claims priority to Provisional Application No. 61/180,650, entitled“PAGING A USER EQUIPMENT (UE) WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”,filed May 22, 2009, each of which is assigned to the assignee hereof andeach of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein inits entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention relate to paging of a user equipment (UE)within a wireless communications system.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G and 2.75G networks) and a third-generation (3G) high speeddata/Internet-capable wireless service. There are presently manydifferent types of wireless communication systems in use, includingCellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples ofknown cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile PhoneSystem (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code DivisionMultiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), TimeDivision Multiple Access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access(GSM) variation of TDMA, and newer hybrid digital communication systemsusing both TDMA and CDMA technologies.

The method for providing CDMA mobile communications was standardized inthe United States by the Telecommunications IndustryAssociation/Electronic Industries Association in TIA/EIA/IS-95-Aentitled “Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard forDual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System,” referred to hereinas IS-95. Combined AMPS & CDMA systems are described in TIA/EIA StandardIS-98. Other communications systems are described in the IMT-2000/UM, orInternational Mobile Telecommunications System 2000/Universal MobileTelecommunications System, standards covering what are referred to aswideband CDMA (W-CDMA), CDMA2000 (such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO standards,for example) or TD-SCDMA.

In W-CDMA wireless communication systems, user equipments (UEs) receivesignals from fixed position Node Bs (also referred to as cell sites orcells) that support communication links or service within particulargeographic regions adjacent to or surrounding the base stations. Node Bsprovide entry points to an access network (AN)/radio access network(RAN), which is generally a packet data network using standard InternetEngineering Task Force (IETF) based protocols that support methods fordifferentiating traffic based on Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.Therefore, the Node Bs generally interact with UEs through an over theair interface and with the RAN through Internet Protocol (IP) networkdata packets.

In wireless telecommunication systems, Push-to-talk (PTT) capabilitiesare becoming popular with service sectors and consumers. PTT can supporta “dispatch” voice service that operates over standard commercialwireless infrastructures, such as W-CDMA, CDMA, FDMA, TDMA, GSM, etc. Ina dispatch model, communication between endpoints (e.g., UEs) occurswithin virtual groups, wherein the voice of one “talker” is transmittedto one or more “listeners.” A single instance of this type ofcommunication is commonly referred to as a dispatch call, or simply aPTT call. A PTT call is an instantiation of a group, which defines thecharacteristics of a call. A group in essence is defined by a memberlist and associated information, such as group name or groupidentification.

SUMMARY

A user equipment (UE) determines to activate a data session. The UEconfigures a data session activation request message to include anindication of an association with communication sessions of a given type(e.g., delay-sensitive communication sessions), and then transmits thedata session activation request message to an access network. The accessnetwork determines to establish an aggressive paging cycle of a downlinkchannel for the UE based in part upon receiving a message (e.g., whichcan be different than the data session activation request message) thatconveys the indication of the association to the access network. Theaccess network sends at least one instruction for facilitating anallocation of the aggressive paging cycle to the UE, and the UE receivesthe at least one instructions and monitors the downlink channelaccordingly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of embodiments of the invention and many ofthe attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the samebecomes better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription when considered in connection with the accompanying drawingswhich are presented solely for illustration and not limitation of theinvention, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wireless network architecture that supportsaccess terminals and access networks in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A illustrates the core network of FIG. 1 according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of the wireless communications system 100of FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an access terminal in accordance with atleast one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional packet data protocol (PDP) contextactivation and resource allocation for a General Packet Radio Services(GPRS) communication session.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate PDP context activation and resource allocatedfor a GPRS communication service and/or application according to anembodiment.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a process of setting up a server-arbitratedcommunication session in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description andrelated drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention.Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the scope ofthe invention. Additionally, well-known elements of the invention willnot be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure therelevant details of the invention.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “servingas an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment describedherein as “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Likewise,the term “embodiments of the invention” does not require that allembodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage ormode of operation.

Further, many embodiments are described in terms of sequences of actionsto be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It willbe recognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, these sequence ofactions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of computer readable storage medium having storedtherein a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon executionwould cause an associated processor to perform the functionalitydescribed herein. Thus, the various aspects of the invention may beembodied in a number of different forms, all of which have beencontemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Inaddition, for each of the embodiments described herein, thecorresponding form of any such embodiments may be described herein as,for example, “logic configured to” perform the described action.

A High Data Rate (HDR) subscriber station, referred to herein as a userequipment (UE), may be mobile or stationary, and may communicate withone or more access points (APs), which may be referred to as Node Bs. AUE transmits and receives data packets through one or more of the NodeBs to a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The Node Bs and RNC are parts ofa network called a radio access network (RAN). A radio access networkcan transport voice and data packets between multiple access terminals.

The radio access network may be further connected to additional networksoutside the radio access network, such core network including specificcarrier related servers and devices and connectivity to other networkssuch as a corporate intranet, the Internet, public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN), a Serving General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) SupportNode (SGSN), a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and may transport voiceand data packets between each UE and such networks. A UE that hasestablished an active traffic channel connection with one or more NodeBs may be referred to as an active UE, and can be referred to as beingin a traffic state. A UE that is in the process of establishing anactive traffic channel (TCH) connection with one or more Node Bs can bereferred to as being in a connection setup state. A UE may be any datadevice that communicates through a wireless channel or through a wiredchannel. A UE may further be any of a number of types of devicesincluding but not limited to PC card, compact flash device, external orinternal modem, or wireless or wireline phone. The communication linkthrough which the UE sends signals to the Node B(s) is called an uplinkchannel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a control channel, an accesschannel, etc.). The communication link through which Node B(s) sendsignals to a UE is called a downlink channel (e.g., a paging channel, acontrol channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.).As used herein the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either anuplink/reverse or downlink/forward traffic channel.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of one exemplary embodiment of awireless communications system 100 in accordance with at least oneembodiment of the invention. System 100 can contain UEs, such ascellular telephone 102, in communication across an air interface 104with an access network or radio access network (RAN) 120 that canconnect the access terminal 102 to network equipment providing dataconnectivity between a packet switched data network (e.g., an intranet,the Internet, and/or core network 126) and the UEs 102, 108, 110, 112.As shown here, the UE can be a cellular telephone 102, a personaldigital assistant 108, a pager 110, which is shown here as a two-waytext pager, or even a separate computer platform 112 that has a wirelesscommunication portal. Embodiments of the invention can thus be realizedon any form of access terminal including a wireless communication portalor having wireless communication capabilities, including withoutlimitation, wireless modems, PCMCIA cards, personal computers,telephones, or any combination or sub-combination thereof. Further, asused herein, the term “UE” in other communication protocols (i.e., otherthan W-CDMA) may be referred to interchangeably as an “access terminal”,“AT”, “wireless device”, “client device”, “mobile terminal”, “mobilestation” and variations thereof.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the components of the wireless communicationssystem 100 and interrelation of the elements of the exemplaryembodiments of the invention are not limited to the configurationillustrated. System 100 is merely exemplary and can include any systemthat allows remote UEs, such as wireless client computing devices 102,108, 110, 112 to communicate over-the-air between and among each otherand/or between and among components connected via the air interface 104and RAN 120, including, without limitation, core network 126, theInternet, PSTN, SGSN, GGSN and/or other remote servers.

The RAN 120 controls messages (typically sent as data packets) sent to a

RNC 122. The RNC 122 is responsible for signaling, establishing, andtearing down bearer channels (i.e., data channels) between a ServingGeneral Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN) and the UEs102/108/110/112. If link layer encryption is enabled, the RNC 122 alsoencrypts the content before forwarding it over the air interface 104.The function of the RNC 122 is well-known in the art and will not bediscussed further for the sake of brevity. The core network 126 maycommunicate with the RNC 122 by a network, the Internet and/or a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN). Alternatively, the RNC 122 mayconnect directly to the Internet or external network. Typically, thenetwork or Internet connection between the core network 126 and the RNC122 transfers data, and the PSTN transfers voice information. The RNC122 can be connected to multiple Node Bs 124. In a similar manner to thecore network 126, the RNC 122 is typically connected to the Node Bs 124by a network, the Internet and/or PSTN for data transfer and/or voiceinformation. The Node Bs 124 can broadcast data messages wirelessly tothe UEs, such as cellular telephone 102. The Node Bs 124, RNC 122 andother components may form the RAN 120, as is known in the art. However,alternate configurations may also be used and the invention is notlimited to the configuration illustrated. For example, in anotherembodiment the functionality of the RNC 122 and one or more of the NodeBs 124 may be collapsed into a single “hybrid” module having thefunctionality of both the RNC 122 and the Node B(s) 124.

FIG. 2A illustrates the core network 126 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In particular, FIG. 2A illustrates components ofa General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) core network implemented within aW-CDMA system. In the embodiment of FIG. 2A, the core network 126includes a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 160, a Gateway GPRS SupportNode (GGSN) 165 and an Internet 175. However, it is appreciated thatportions of the Internet 175 and/or other components may be locatedoutside the core network in alternative embodiments.

Generally, GPRS is a protocol used by Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM) phones for transmitting Internet Protocol (IP)packets. The GPRS Core Network (e.g., the GGSN 165 and one or more SGSNs160) is the centralized part of the GPRS system and also providessupport for W-CDMA based 3G networks. The GPRS core network is anintegrated part of the GSM core network, provides mobility management,session management and transport for IP packet services in GSM andW-CDMA networks.

The GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) is the defining IP protocol of theGPRS core network. The GTP is the protocol which allows end users (e.g.,access terminals) of a GSM or W-CDMA network to move from place to placewhile continuing to connect to the internet as if from one location atthe GGSN 165. This is achieved transferring the subscriber's data fromthe subscriber's current SGSN 160 to the GGSN 165, which is handling thesubscriber's session.

Three forms of GTP are used by the GPRS core network; namely, (i) GTP-U,(ii) GTP-C and (iii) GTP′ (GTP Prime). GTP-U is used for transfer ofuser data in separated tunnels for each packet data protocol (PDP)context. GTP-C is used for control signaling (e.g., setup and deletionof PDP contexts, verification of GSN reach-ability, updates ormodifications such as when a subscriber moves from one SGSN to another,etc.). GTP′ is used for transfer of charging data from GSNs to acharging function.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the GGSN 165 acts as an interface between the GPRSbackbone network (not shown) and the external packet data network 175.The GGSN 165 extracts the packet data with associated packet dataprotocol (PDP) format (e.g., IP or PPP) from the GPRS packets comingfrom the SGSN 160, and sends the packets out on a corresponding packetdata network. In the other direction, the incoming data packets aredirected by the GGSN 165 to the SGSN 160 which manages and controls theRadio Access Bearer (RAB) of the destination UE served by the RAN 120.Thereby, the GGSN 165 stores the current SGSN address of the target UEand his/her profile in its location register (e.g., within a PDPcontext). The GGSN is responsible for IP address assignment and is thedefault router for the connected UE. The GGSN also performsauthentication and charging functions.

The SGSN 160 is representative of one of many SGSNs within the corenetwork 126, in an example. Each SGSN is responsible for the delivery ofdata packets from and to the UEs within an associated geographicalservice area. The tasks of the SGSN 160 includes packet routing andtransfer, mobility management (e.g., attach/detach and locationmanagement), logical link management, and authentication and chargingfunctions. The location register of the SGSN stores location information(e.g., current cell, current VLR) and user profiles (e.g., IMSI, PDPaddress(es) used in the packet data network) of all GPRS usersregistered with the SGSN 160, for example, within one or more PDPcontexts for each user or UE. Thus, SGSNs are responsible for (i)de-tunneling downlink GTP packets from the GGSN 165, (ii) uplink tunnelIP packets toward the GGSN 165, (iii) carrying out mobility managementas UEs move between SGSN service areas and (iv) billing mobilesubscribers. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,aside from (i)-(iv), SGSNs configured for GSM/EDGE networks haveslightly different functionality as compared to SGSNs configured forW-CDMA networks.

The RAN 120 (e.g., or UTRAN, in Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS) system architecture) communicates with the SGSN 160 via aIu interface, with a transmission protocol such as Frame Relay or IP.The SGSN 160 communicates with the GGSN 165 via a Gn interface, which isan IP-based interface between SGSN 160 and other SGSNs (not shown) andinternal GGSNs, and uses the GTP protocol defined above (e.g., GTP-U,GTP-C, GTP′, etc.). While not shown in FIG. 2A, the Gn interface is alsoused by the Domain Name System (DNS). The GGSN 165 is connected to aPublic Data Network (PDN) (not shown), and in turn to the Internet 175,via a Gi interface with IP protocols either directly or through aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway.

The PDP context is a data structure present on both the SGSN 160 and theGGSN 165 which contains a particular UE's communication sessioninformation when the UE has an active GPRS session. When a UE wishes toinitiate a GPRS communication session, the UE must first attach to theSGSN 160 and then activate a PDP context with the GGSN 165. Thisallocates a PDP context data structure in the SGSN 160 that thesubscriber is currently visiting and the GGSN 165 serving the UE'saccess point.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of the wireless communications system 100of FIG. 1 in more detail. In particular, referring to FIG. 2B, UEs 1 . .. N are shown as connecting to the RAN 120 at locations serviced bydifferent packet data network end-points. The illustration of FIG. 2B isspecific to W-CDMA systems and terminology, although it will beappreciated how FIG. 2B could be modified to confirm with a lx EV-DOsystem. Accordingly, UEs 1 and 3 connect to the RAN 120 at a portionserved by a first packet data network end-point 162 (e.g., which maycorrespond to SGSN, GGSN, PDSN, a home agent (HA), a foreign agent (FA),etc.). The first packet data network end-point 162 in turn connects, viathe routing unit 188, to the Internet 175 and/or to one or more of anauthentication, authorization and accounting (AAA) server 182, aprovisioning server 184, an Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem(IMS)/Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) Registration Server 186 and/orthe application server 170. UEs 2 and 5 . . . N connect to the RAN 120at a portion served by a second packet data network end-point 164 (e.g.,which may correspond to SGSN, GGSN, PDSN, FA, HA, etc.). Similar to thefirst packet data network end-point 162, the second packet data networkend-point 164 in turn connects, via the routing unit 188, to theInternet 175 and/or to one or more of the AAA server 182, a provisioningserver 184, an IMS/SIP Registration Server 186 and/or the applicationserver 170. UE 4 connects directly to the Internet 175, and through theInternet 175 can then connect to any of the system components describedabove.

Referring to FIG. 2B, UEs 1, 3 and 5 . . . N are illustrated as wirelesscell-phones, UE 2 is illustrated as a wireless tablet-PC and UE 4 isillustrated as a wired desktop station. However, in other embodiments,it will be appreciated that the wireless communication system 100 canconnect to any type of UE, and the examples illustrated in FIG. 2B arenot intended to limit the types of UEs that may be implemented withinthe system. Also, while the AAA 182, the provisioning server 184, theIMS/SIP registration server 186 and the application server 170 are eachillustrated as structurally separate servers, one or more of theseservers may be consolidated in at least one embodiment of the invention.

Further, referring to FIG. 2B, the application server 170 is illustratedas including a plurality of media control complexes (MCCs) 1 . . . N170B, and a plurality of regional dispatchers 1 . . . N 170A.Collectively, the regional dispatchers 170A and MCCs 170B are includedwithin the application server 170, which in at least one embodiment cancorrespond to a distributed network of servers that collectivelyfunctions to arbitrate communication sessions (e.g., half-duplex groupcommunication sessions via IP unicasting and/or IP multicastingprotocols) within the wireless communication system 100. For example,because the communication sessions arbitrated by the application server170 can theoretically take place between UEs located anywhere within thesystem 100, multiple regional dispatchers 170A and MCCs are distributedto reduce latency for the arbitrated communication sessions (e.g., sothat a MCC in North America is not relaying media back-and-forth betweensession participants located in China). Thus, when reference is made tothe application server 170, it will be appreciated that the associatedfunctionality can be enforced by one or more of the regional dispatchers170A and/or one or more of the MCCs 170B. The regional dispatchers 170Aare generally responsible for any functionality related to establishinga communication session (e.g., handling signaling messages between theUEs, scheduling and/or sending announce messages, etc.), whereas theMCCs 170B are responsible for hosting the communication session for theduration of the call instance, including conducting an in-call signalingand an actual exchange of media during an arbitrated communicationsession.

Referring to FIG. 3, a UE 200, (here a wireless device), such as acellular telephone, has a platform 202 that can receive and executesoftware applications, data and/or commands transmitted from the RAN 120that may ultimately come from the core network 126, the Internet and/orother remote servers and networks. The platform 202 can include atransceiver 206 operably coupled to an application specific integratedcircuit (“ASIC” 208), or other processor, microprocessor, logic circuit,or other data processing device. The ASIC 208 or other processorexecutes the application programming interface (“API’) 210 layer thatinterfaces with any resident programs in the memory 212 of the wirelessdevice. The memory 212 can be comprised of read-only or random-accessmemory (RAM and ROM), EEPROM, flash cards, or any memory common tocomputer platforms. The platform 202 also can include a local database214 that can hold applications not actively used in memory 212. Thelocal database 214 is typically a flash memory cell, but can be anysecondary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media,EEPROM, optical media, tape, soft or hard disk, or the like. Theinternal platform 202 components can also be operably coupled toexternal devices such as antenna 222, display 224, push-to-talk button228 and keypad 226 among other components, as is known in the art.

Accordingly, an embodiment of the invention can include a UE includingthe ability to perform the functions described herein. As will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, the various logic elements canbe embodied in discrete elements, software modules executed on aprocessor or any combination of software and hardware to achieve thefunctionality disclosed herein. For example, ASIC 208, memory 212, API210 and local database 214 may all be used cooperatively to load, storeand execute the various functions disclosed herein and thus the logic toperform these functions may be distributed over various elements.Alternatively, the functionality could be incorporated into one discretecomponent. Therefore, the features of the UE 200 in FIG. 3 are to beconsidered merely illustrative and the invention is not limited to theillustrated features or arrangement.

The wireless communication between the UE 102 or 200 and the RAN 120 canbe based on different technologies, such as code division multipleaccess (CDMA), W-CDMA, time division multiple access (TDMA), frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA), Orthogonal Frequency DivisionMultiplexing (OFDM), the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),or other protocols that may be used in a wireless communications networkor a data communications network. For example, in W-CDMA, the datacommunication is typically between the client device 102, Node B(s) 124,and the RNC 122. The RNC 122 can be connected to multiple data networkssuch as the core network 126, PSTN, the Internet, a virtual privatenetwork, a SGSN, a GGSN and the like, thus allowing the UE 102 or 200access to a broader communication network. As discussed in the foregoingand known in the art, voice transmission and/or data can be transmittedto the UEs from the RAN using a variety of networks and configurations.Accordingly, the illustrations provided herein are not intended to limitthe embodiments of the invention and are merely to aid in thedescription of aspects of embodiments of the invention.

Below, embodiments of the invention are generally described inaccordance with W-CDMA protocols and associated terminology (e.g., suchas UE instead of mobile station (MS), mobile unit (MU), access terminal(AT), etc., RNC, contrasted with BSC in EV-DO, or Node B, contrastedwith BS or MPT/BS in EV-DO, etc.). However, it will be readilyappreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art how the embodiments ofthe invention can be applied in conjunction with wireless communicationprotocols other than W-CDMA.

In a conventional server-arbitrated communication session (e.g., viahalf-duplex protocols, full-duplex protocols, VoIP, a group session overIP unicast, a group session over IP multicast, a push-to-talk (PTT)session, a push-to-transfer (PTX) session, etc.), a session or calloriginator sends a request to initiate a communication session to theapplication server 170, which then forwards a call announcement messageto the RAN 120 for transmission to one or more targets of the call.

User Equipments (UEs), in a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service(UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN) (e.g., the RAN 120) maybe in either an idle mode or a radio resource control (RRC) connectedmode.

Based on UE mobility and activity while in a RRC connected mode, the RAN120 may direct UEs to transition between a number of RRC sub-states;namely, CELL_PCH, URA_PCH, CELL_FACH, and CELL_DCH states, which may becharacterized as follows:

-   -   In the CELL_DCH state, a dedicated physical channel is allocated        to the UE in uplink and downlink, the UE is known on a cell        level according to its current active set, and the UE has been        assigned dedicated transport channels, downlink and uplink (TDD)        shared transport channels, and a combination of these transport        channels can be used by the UE.    -   In the CELL_FACH state, no dedicated physical channel is        allocated to the UE, the UE continuously monitors a forward        access channel (FACH), the UE is assigned a default common or        shared transport channel in the uplink (e.g., a random access        channel (RACH), which is a contention-based channel with a power        ramp-up procedure to acquire the channel and to adjust transmit        power) that the UE can transmit upon according to the access        procedure for that transport channel, the position of the UE is        known by RAN 120 on a cell level according to the cell where the        UE last made a previous cell update, and, in TDD mode, one or        several USCH or DSCH transport channels may have been        established.    -   In the CELL_PCH state, no dedicated physical channel is        allocated to the UE, the UE selects a PCH with the algorithm,        and uses DRX for monitoring the selected PCH via an associated        PICH, no uplink activity is possible and the position of the UE        is known by the RAN 120 on cell level according to the cell        where the UE last made a cell update in CELL_FACH state.    -   In the URA_PCH state, no dedicated channel is allocated to the        UE, the UE selects a PCH with the algorithm, and uses DRX for        monitoring the selected PCH via an associated PICH, no uplink        activity is possible, and the location of the UE is known to the        RAN 120 at a Registration area level according to the UTRAN        registration area (URA) assigned to the UE during the last URA        update in CELL_FACH state.

Accordingly, URA_PCH State (or CELL_PCH State) corresponds to a dormantstate where the UE periodically wakes up to check a paging indicatorchannel (PICH) and, if needed, the associated downlink paging channel(PCH), and it may enter CELL_FACH state to send a Cell Update messagefor the following event: cell reselection, periodical cell update,uplink data transmission, paging response, re-entered service area. InCELL_FACH State, the UE may send messages on the random access channel(RACH), and may monitor a forward access channel (FACH). The FACHcarries downlink communication from the RAN 120, and is mapped to asecondary common control physical channel (S-CCPCH). From CELL_FACHState, the UE may enter CELL_DCH state after a traffic channel (TCH) hasbeen obtained based on messaging in CELL_FACH state. A table showingconventional dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) to transport channelmappings in radio resource control (RRC) connected mode, is in Table 1as follows:

TABLE 1 DTCH to Transport Channel mappings in RRC connected mode RACHFACH DCH E-DCH HS-DSCH CELL_DCH No No Yes Yes Yes CELL_FACH Yes Yes NoYes (rel. 8) Yes (rel. 7) CELL_PCH No No No No Yes (rel. 7) URA_PCH NoNo No No Nowherein the notations (rel. 8) and (rel. 7) indicate the associated 3GPPrelease where the indicated channel was introduced for monitoring oraccess.

FIG. 4 illustrates a conventional process for setting up a given GPRScommunication session. In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates a conventionalmanner of activating a PDP context for the given GPRS communicationsession, as well as allocating resources to an UE for supporting thegiven GPRS communication session based on the activated PDP context.

Referring to FIG. 4, UE 1 determines whether to conduct a GPRScommunication session, 400. For example, the determination of 400 maycorrespond to the startup of a push-to-talk (PTT) application on UE 1 ifthe GPRS communication session corresponds to a group PTT call (e.g., amulticast call, etc.). If UE 1 determines to conduct a GPRScommunication session, UE 1 is required to activate a PDP context forthe session. Thus, UE 1 configures an Activate PDP Context Requestmessage that includes information related to UE 1 for the GPRScommunication session, 405. For example, the Activate PDP ContextRequest message may be configured to include the Requested QoS for thesession, an access point name (APN) of the GGSN 165 (e.g., which may beobtained after a DNS query), etc. If the PDP Address, to which packetsare addressed during the GPRS communication session, is dynamicallyassigned by the GGSN 165, in the Activate PDP Context Request message,the PDP Address field is empty because the PDP context for UE 1'ssession has not yet been activated.

After configuring the Activate PDP Context Request message in 405, UE 1sends the configured Activate PDP Request message to the SGSN 160 viathe RAN 120, 410. The SGSN 160 receives the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage and sends a Create PDP Context Request message to the GGSN 165,415. The GGSN 165 receives the Create PDP Context Request message fromthe SGSN 160, and activates a PDP context for UE 1's communicationsession, 420. Both SGSN and GGSN may retrieve the subscribed QoS profilefrom HLR and modify the requested QoS for the PDP context. Theactivation of the PDP context in 420 includes assigning a PDP addressfor UE 1's communication session (e.g., an IPv6 address). The GGSN 165sends a Create PDP Context Accept message back to the SGSN 160, 425,which indicates that the Create PDP Context Request message from 415 isaccepted and also conveys the PDP address for UE 1's communicationsession. The SGSN 160 sends a RAB assignment request for UE 1'scommunication session based on the PDP context to the RAN 120, 430. Forexample, the SGSN 160 may instruct the RAN 120 with regard to a givenlevel of QoS resources for allocating to UE 1 during the communicationsession using the RAB Parameter field in the RAB Assignment Request,which contains the QoS requirements on UE 1's communication link. TheRAN 120 receives the RAB assignment request and sends a Radio BearerSetup message for UE 1's communication session based on the RABparameters, 435. UE 1 receives the Radio Bearer Setup message,configures the Radio Bearer accordingly, and sends a Radio Bearer SetupComplete message to the RAN 120, 440. The RAN 120 then sends a RABAssignment Response message back to the SGSN 160, 445. At this point,the SGSN 160 sends an Activate PDP Context Accept message to UE 1 viathe RAN 120, 450, which indicates that the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage from 410 is accepted and also conveys the PDP address for UE 1'scommunication session.

After receiving the Activate PDP Context Accept message in 450 (e.g.,which conveys the PDP address to be used for the session), UE 1 maybegin to send and receive messages related to the establishedcommunication session, 455.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, while thePDP context can indicate the PDP-type (e.g., primary or secondary), PDPparameters (e.g., ToS, APN, QoS, PDP address, etc.), identifiers (e.g.,a Network Service Access Point Identifier (NSAPI, TI), TEID, etc.)and/or other parameters, conventional PDP contexts do not includeinformation related to the application or service associated with theGPRS communication session being activated and are supported by UE 1.For example, if the GPRS communication session corresponds to thesignaling of a PTT call that UE 1 wishes to initiate or join, thesignaling of PTT call is a highly delay-sensitive interactiveapplication. However, the SGSN 160 and GGSN 165 may recognize that theapplication is an originating interactive call but do not necessarilyhave special knowledge with regard to the nature of the application, andas such do not know that the session is delay or time-sensitive. Thus,the SGSN 160 and GGSN 165 do not necessarily grant aggressive resourcesto UE 1, which can degrade performance for UE 1's communication session.

Embodiments which will be described below in more detail are directed toconveying application or service-specific information from a UErequesting PDP context activation to the RAN 120, SGSN 160 and/or GGSN165, and storing the conveyed application or service-specificinformation in the PDP context. The RAN 120, SGSN 160 and/or GGSN 165may then allocate resources to the requesting UE for the communicationsession based at least in part on the application or service-specificinformation.

Accordingly, FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a process for activating a PDPcontext according to an embodiment of the invention. In particular,FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate a manner of activating a PDP context for agiven GPRS communication service and/or application that is configuredto include application or service-specific information related topotential sessions invoked for the service and/or application.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, UE 1 determines whether to active a PDPcontext, 500. For example, the determination of 400 may be performedwhen UE 1 powers-up even if UE 1 does not wish to immediately join orinitiate a PTT call or other delay-sensitive application, such that UE 1determines to activate the PDP context for the application and/orservice even in the absence of an immediate desire to conduct acommunication session for the application and/or service. Accordingly,it will be appreciated that the PDP context activation may be apreemptive activation to a particular service or application that occursprior to a setup of a communication session involving the particularservice or application. For example, the preemptive activation may occurwhen UE 1 powers-up such that the RAN 120, SGSN 160 and/or GGSN 165 isaware that UE 1 is active for the particular service and/or applicationeven when UE 1 is not currently engaged in, or requesting initiation of,a communication session.

After determining to activate the PDP context for the given GPRScommunication session, service and/or application in 500, UE 1determines, if possible, application or service-specific informationrelated to the GPRS communication service and/or application, 505. Asused herein, application or service-specific information is defined asany information related to a service or application supported by UE 1.With regard to the group PTT call example, the application orservice-specific information may correspond to recognition that UE 1 isa group-member of one or more PTT groups.

In 510, UE 1 determines whether to convey the application orservice-specific information determined in 505 to the SGSN 160 and/orthe GGSN 165. For example, if the GPRS communication service and/orapplication is not delay-sensitive, then UE 1 may determine not to sendapplication-specific information in 510, and the process may advance to405 of FIG. 4, as described above. Otherwise, if UE 1 determines toconvey the application or service-specific information determined in 505to the SGSN 160 and/or the GGSN 165 (e.g., if the GPRS communicationservice and/or application is delay-sensitive, etc.), then the processadvances to 515.

In 515, UE 1 configures an Activate PDP Context Request message thatincludes information related to UE 1 for the GPRS communication serviceand/or application, similar to 405 of FIG. 4. For example, the ActivatePDP Context Request message may be configured to include UE 1's anaccess point name (APN) of the GGSN 165 (e.g., which may be obtainedafter a DNS query), etc. In the Activate PDP Context Request message,the PDP Address field, to which packets are addressed during sessionsinvoked for the GPRS communication service and/or application, is emptybecause the PDP context for UE 1's service and/or application has notyet been activated.

However, in 515 of FIG. 5A, the Activate PDP Context Request message isfurther configured to indicate the application or service-specificinformation related to the GPRS communication service and/or applicationthat is determined in 505 of FIG. 5A. The application orservice-specific information can be included within the Activate PDPContext Request message in a number of ways. For example, one or morefields within the Activate PDP Context Request message itself can bemodified to include a flag that indicates the application orservice-specific information.

In a more specific example, UE 1 can configure the Activate PDP ContextRequest message (e.g., for primary PDP context) and/or the ActivateSecondary PDP Context Request (e.g., for secondary PDP context) in 515to include special QoS configuration(s), such that the GGSN 165 and SGSN160 can uniquely identify UE 1 within the operator's network based onthe special configuration. Also, since the SGSN 160 will pass the QoS tothe RNC at the RAN 120 in the RAB Assignment Request message (utilizingthe RAB Parameter field) (e.g., see 540, below), the RNC or RAN 120 canalso identify UE 1 based on the special QoS configuration, and henceallocate UTRAN resources required by the multimedia application (e.g.,aggressive UTRAN_DRX_CYCLE, which is used to determine the paging cycleat UE 1).

In yet another example, in 515, UE 1 can select a reserved NSAPI (e.g.,such as 0 to 4, which are currently prohibited and not used bystandard), and include the reserved NSAPI in the Activate PDP ContextRequest and/or Activate Secondary PDP Context Request. As in theprevious example, the GGSN 165 and SGSN 160 will read the message(s) andbe able to uniquely identify the reserved NSAPI as being for aparticular multimedia application and/or service (e.g., such as one thatis known to require a high-level or aggressive-level of QoS). Also,since the RAB ID in the RAB Assignment Request (e.g., see 540, below) ismandated to be the same value of NSAPI, the RAN 120 can identify UE 1based on the RAB ID.

In an alternative embodiment, special or predetermined bits can beembedded in the NSAPI information element (IE). The NSAPI IE is 8 bits,where the first 4 LSB are used to carry the NSAPI and the last 4 LSB arespare bits. Thus, in this example, UE 1 can utilize the 4 spare bits inthe NSAPI IE for the SGSN 160 and GGSN 165 to identify UE 1. Since RABID IE=NSAPI IE per standard, the RAN 120 can identify UE 1 and canassign aggressive UTRAN_DRX CYCLE to UE 1.

In yet another alternative example, an APN is a string parameterincluded in the Activate PDP Context Request used to select the GGSN165. Accordingly, in 515, UE 1 can put a keyword in the APN foridentifying UE 1 as having a high-QoS requirement. The GGSN 165 and SGSN160 can receive the APN in the Activate PDP Context Request. However,the RAN 120 may not necessarily be informed of UE 1's high-QoSrequirement for a particular application and/or service in this example(e.g., although the RAN 120 can be instructed to allocate an aggressiveQoS setting via the RAB Assignment Request message from the SGSN in 540,below). For example, the SGSN may override the Requested QoS in theActivate PDP Context Request, and can send the new or overridden QoS tothe serving RNC at the RAN 120 within the RAB Parameter field in the RABAssignment message. The new QoS may contain configurations or QoSattributes not in the Requested QoS (e.g., for interactive classtraffic, the attribute of allocation/retention priority (ARP) can onlybe assigned by the SGSN/GGSN) for the serving RNC to uniquely identifyUE subscribing to a particular application (e.g., a PTT service), ormore specifically, the application's RAB.

After configuring the Activate PDP Context Request message in 515, UE 1sends the configured Activate PDP Request message to the SGSN 160 viathe RAN 120, 520. The SGSN 160 receives the Activate PDP Context Requestmessage and sends a Create PDP Context Request message, which alsoincludes the application or service-specific information, to the GGSN165, 525. The GGSN 165 receives the Create PDP Context Request messagefrom the SGSN 160, and activates a PDP context for UE 1's communicationservice and/or application, 530. The activation of the PDP context in530 includes assigning a PDP address for UE 1's communication serviceand/or application (e.g., an IPv6 address). The activation of 530 alsoincludes storing, within the PDP context, the application orservice-specific information for UE 1's communication service and/orapplication.

The GGSN 165 sends a Create PDP Context Accept message back to the SGSN160, 535, which indicates that the Create PDP Context Request messagefrom 525 is accepted and also conveys the PDP address and application orservice-specific information for UE 1's communication service and/orapplication. The SGSN 160 generates the RAB assignment request andincludes, within the RAB assignment request, information from which theRAN 120 (e.g., more specifically, the serving RNC at the RAN 120) candetermine the application or service-specific information of UE 1. TheSGSN then sends the RAB assignment request to the RAN 120, 540. Forexample, in the RAB assignment request, the SGSN 160 may instruct theRAN 120 with regard to a given level of QoS resources for allocating toUE 1 during sessions invoked for the communication service and/orapplication using the RAB Parameter field in the RAB Assignment Request,which contains the QoS requirements on UE 1's communication link. If theapplication or service-specific information indicates, to the SGSN 160in this example, that a high-level of QoS resources are required, theSGSN 160 can instruct the RAN 120 to allocate a higher amount of QoSresources to UE 1 than would otherwise be allocated in 540. In anotherexample, as discussed above with respect to 541 through 544, a frequencyat which UE 1 wakes up (e.g., a DRX cycle) can be increased if theapplication or service-specific information indicates, to the SGSN 160in this example, that UE 1's communication service and/or applicationmay benefit from a more aggressive paging cycle due to delay sensitivityof the service and/or application.

As discussed above with respect to the characteristics normallyassociated with CELL_PCH state and/or URA PCH state (e.g., ‘dormant’states), a UE in either of these states uses a given DRX cycle or paginginterval for monitoring the selected PCH via an associated PICH. Thus,at each DRX cycle, a UE in CELL_PCH and/or URA_PCH state wakes up andchecks a PICH and/or PCH to determine whether that particular UE isbeing paged. Conventionally, the same DRX cycle is used for all UEs ineither CELL_PCH or URA_PCH state. In at least one embodiment of theinvention, however, a more aggressive or shorter DRX cycle or pagingcycle can be used for UEs that subscribe to a delay-sensitive GPRScommunication service or application, as indicated by the application orservice-specific information from UE 1.

Accordingly, in 541, the serving RNC at the RAN 120 evaluates theapplication or service-specific information included in the Activate PDPContext Request message from UE 1 (e.g., based on RAB parameters in theRAB assignment request that indicate the application or service-specificinformation to trigger special handling protocols by the RAN 120), todetermine if UE 1's GPRS communication service and/or application isdelay sensitive. If the serving RNC of the RAN 120 determines that UE1's GPRS communication service and/or application is not delay sensitivein 542, then the process advances to 545 and the RAN 120 sends a RadioBearer Setup message for UE 1's communication service and/or applicationthat assigns a default or generic DRX cycle for UE 1 to use during adormant state (e.g., a URA_PCH or CELL_PCH state) based on the RABparameters, 545. Alternatively, if the serving RNC of the RAN 120determines that UE 1's GPRS communication service and/or application isdelay sensitive in 542, then the process either advances to 544 and theserving RNC of the RAN selects an aggressive DRX cycle, 544.

Accordingly, the RAN 120 receives the RAB assignment request and sends aRadio Bearer Setup message for UE 1's communication service and/orapplication based on the RAB parameters (e.g., either with a normal oraggressive DRX cycle, based on the evaluation of blocks 541 through544), 545. UE 1 receives the Radio Bearer Setup message, and sends aRadio Bearer Setup Complete message to the RAN 120, 550. The RAN 120then sends a RAB Assignment Response message back to the SGSN 160, 555.

At this point, the SGSN 160 sends an Activate PDP Context Accept messageto UE 1 via the RAN 120, 560, which indicates that the Activate PDPContext Request message from 520 is accepted and also conveys the PDPaddress for UE 1's communication service and/or application. While notshown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, after receiving the Activate PDP ContextAccept message (e.g., which conveys the PDP address to be used for theservice and/or application), UE 1 may begin to send and receive messagesrelated to a session established for the activated GPRS communicationservice and/or application.

Accordingly, as will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art,FIGS. 5A and 5B show how the RAN 120 (e.g., a serving RNC of the RAN120), the SGSN 160 and/or the GGSN 165 can be informed, by the UE 1,with regard to UE 1 being ‘active’ for a particular application and/orservice. Also, for delay sensitive applications and/or services, the UE1 can be assigned a more aggressive DRX cycle for its URA_PCH stateand/or CELL_PCH state by the RAN 120 (e.g., a serving RNC of UE 1), suchthat UE 1 can potentially be paged more quickly, as will be describednext with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B.

Accordingly, a process by which a server-arbitrated communicationsession can be set-up is described with respect to FIGS. 6A and 6B. Inparticular, FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate a server-arbitrated sessionset-up process wherein the system 100 corresponds to a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) that uses Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (W-CDMA). However, it will be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art how FIGS. 6A and 6B can be modified to bedirected to communication sessions in accordance with protocols otherthan W-CDMA.

Referring to FIGS. 6A and 6B, 600 through 698 generally correspond toblocks 400 through 498, respectively, of FIG. 4 of co-pending U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/180,645, entitled “ANNOUNCING ACOMMUNICATION SESSION WITHIN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM”, assignedto the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety and hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety. Accordingly, the discussion contained herein is limited to 640through 656 of FIGS. 6A and 6B for the sake of brevity.

The application server 170 processes a call request message from a calloriginator (“UE 2”), 640, and generates an announce message forannouncing the communication session to target UE 1 and forwards theannounce message to the RAN 120, 644. As will be appreciated by one ofordinary skill in the art, the RAN 120 cannot simply transmit theannounce message to UE 1 immediately after receiving the call announcemessage from the application server 170. Rather, the RAN 120 waits for anext DRX cycle or paging cycle at which target UE 1 are expected to bemonitoring for pages, 648. In an example, assume that the process ofFIGS. 5A and 5B has already executed for UE 1, and that UE 1 has beenallocated an aggressive DRX paging cycle. Because it has been assumedthat UE 1 is provisioned with the more aggressive DRX paging cycle by aprevious execution of the process of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the RAN 120 waitsa shorter period of time in 648 as compared to if a longer DRX cycle isused. For convenience of explanation, it may be assumed that UE 1 is inURA PCH state at this point, 652, and is monitoring the PCH and/or PICHin accordance with the ‘aggressive or shorter DRX cycle. While not shownin FIGS. 6A and 6B, if UE 1 already had an active traffic channel (TCH),the RAN 120 could simply send the announce message on thealready-allocated TCH. After the RAN 120 waits for the DRX cycle orpaging cycle of UE 1, a type 1 paging message is sent to UE 1. Theremainder of FIGS. 6A and 6B may then be executed as described in theabove-noted co-pending U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/180,645 filedon May 22, 2009, having attorney docket no. 091544P1, which isincorporated by reference in its entirety.

As will be appreciated from a review of FIGS. 6A and 6B, the aggressivepaging cycle or DRX cycle allocated to UE 1 decreases the call setuptime for the server-arbitrated communication session because UE 1 can bepaged more quickly.

While above-described embodiments of the invention have generally beendescribed with respect to terminology that is specific to CDMA, W-CDMAand/or EV-DO protocols, it will be appreciated that other embodiments ofthe invention can be modified to comply with other wirelesstelecommunication protocols, such as UMTS LTE and/or SAE, in an example.For example, in a UMTS implementation, the above-described call flowsare still generally applicable. However, the terminology of PDP context,RNC (or RNC 122), SGSN and GGSN may instead be described as EvolvedPacket System (EPS) bearer, eNodeB, Serving Gateway (GW) and packet datanetwork (PDN) GW, respectively. Accordingly, the technical modificationsto conform the CDMA implementation described above to a UMTSimplementation are well within the abilities of one of ordinary skill inthe art.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implementedor performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signalprocessor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware,in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of thetwo. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROMmemory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, hard disk, a removabledisk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Anexemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., access terminal). Inthe alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside asdiscrete components in a user terminal

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of theinvention, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the inventionas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the embodiments of the inventiondescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of activating a data session at anaccess network within a wireless communications system operating inaccordance with a given wireless communications protocol, comprising:receiving a message associated with activating the data session for auser equipment (UE), the received message including an indication thatthe data session is associated with communication sessions of a giventype; determining to establish an aggressive paging cycle of a downlinkchannel for the UE based at least in part on the indication contained inthe received message; and sending at least one instruction forfacilitating an allocation of the aggressive paging cycle to the UE. 2.The method of claim 1, wherein the given wireless communicationsprotocol corresponds to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA).3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data session corresponds to apacket data protocol (PDP) Context.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe PDP Context corresponds to a Primary or Secondary PDP Context. 5.The method of claim 1, wherein the downlink channel corresponds to adownlink paging channel (PCH) or a downlink paging indicator channel(PICH).
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the received message isreceived from a higher-level network entity.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein the received message corresponds to a Radio Bearer (RAB)Assignment Request message from a General Packet Radio Services (GPRS)Support Node (SGSN) that is serving the UE.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one instruction corresponds to a Radio Bearer (RAB)Setup message.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the indication is basedon another indication contained in an earlier message from the UE, theanother indication corresponding to an application-layer parameter thatwas not evaluated directly by the access network.
 10. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the earlier message from the UE corresponds to anActivate Packet Data Protocol (PDP) Context Request message.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving data for transmissionto the UE; and paging the UE on the downlink channel in accordance withthe aggressive paging cycle.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thecommunication sessions of the given type correspond to delay-sensitiveand/or low data-rate applications.
 13. The method of claim 12, whereinthe communication sessions of the given type corresponds to Push-to-Talk(PTT) communication sessions, Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP)communication sessions and/or Push-to-Transfer (PTX) communicationsessions.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication sessionsof the given type have a high Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirement, andwherein the aggressive paging cycle is established to satisfy the highQoS requirement.
 15. An access network configured to activate a datasession within a wireless communications system operating in accordancewith a given wireless communications protocol, comprising: means forreceiving a message associated with activating the data session for auser equipment (UE), the received message including an indication thatthe data session is associated with communication sessions of a giventype; means for determining to establish an aggressive paging cycle of adownlink channel for the UE based at least in part on the indicationcontained in the received message; and means for sending at least oneinstruction for facilitating an allocation of the aggressive pagingcycle to the UE.
 16. An access network configured to activate a datasession within a wireless communications system operating in accordancewith a given wireless communications protocol, comprising: logicconfigured to receive a message associated with activating the datasession for a user equipment (UE), the received message including anindication that the data session is associated with communicationsessions of a given type; logic configured to determine to establish anaggressive paging cycle of a downlink channel for the UE based at leastin part on the indication contained in the received message; and logicconfigured to send at least one instruction for facilitating anallocation of the aggressive paging cycle to the UE.
 17. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructionswhich, when executed by an access network configured to activate a datasession within a wireless communications system operating in accordancewith a given wireless communications protocol, cause the access networkto perform operations, the instructions comprising: program code toreceive a message associated with activating the data session for a userequipment (UE), the received message including an indication that thedata session is associated with communication sessions of a given type;program code to determine to establish an aggressive paging cycle of adownlink channel for the UE based at least in part on the indicationcontained in the received message; and program code to send at least oneinstruction for facilitating an allocation of the aggressive pagingcycle to the UE.